Cultugarve/Rádio Solar was present yesterday at the closing of the celebrations of the 190th anniversary of the birth of João de Deus, in São Bartolomeu de Messines, with the presence of the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
The President of the Republic paid tribute yesterday in the Algarve to the pedagogue and poet João de Deus, claiming to have been “a lifetime waiting for this moment”, to thank him for teaching him “to love Portugal even more”.
“I have been waiting a lifetime for this moment, to thank João de Deus for what he had changed in me for almost 70 years. With him, I began to learn to love Portugal more, when I still did not know what Portugal was, and I doubt I would understand better what would transform my life to know how to read and write in Portuguese. But it transformed my life. Mine and that of millions of Portuguese. Thank you João de Deus!”.
At the closing ceremony of the commemorations of the 190th anniversary of the birth of João de Deus, which took place in the Auditorium Francisco Vargas Mogo, in São Bartolomeu de Messines, municipality of Silves, from where the poet was natural, the President recalled that the author of the maternal booklet “denied twice” the idea that “no one is a prophet in his land” and that “among us, no one is honored in life”.”He was a prophet in his land in educational matters, knowing the very just celebration in life, something very rare and, in his case, added that he did not fall into oblivion”, he said.
The ceremony featured the presentation of two publications: the children’s book “Fables of João de Deus”, illustrated by Marta Jacinto and the book “João de Deus – Immortal and timeless”, a historiographic study, by Maria João Raminhos, edited by the municipality in partnership with the publisher Colibri.
The commemorative program would end in Silves, with the concert “If I were a Cloud – João de Deus Revisited” performed by the Lisbon Poetry Orchestra.
João de Deus was born in São Bartolomeu de Messines on 8th March 1830, having died in Lisbon on January 11th, 1896. Throughout his life he was a pedagogue, poet and proponent of a method of teaching how to read.
The maternal booklet published by himself in 1876 is a pedagogical work designed to serve as a basis for a method of reading teaching to children. It is one of the most often reprinted works in Portugal, having been extensively used in Portuguese schools, still maintaining some followers.